1.

8pThereareninfinitesequencesofpositiveintegers,
A1=a11a12a13,
A2=a21a22a23,
A3=a31a32a33,

An=an1an2an3...
Showthattheremustexistiandjsuchthataki<=akjforall1<=k<=n.

2.(8p)Howmanydifferentwaysaretheretopainnballswith4colors(A,B,CandD)suchthat
thenumberofballsincolorAisoddwhilethenumberofthoseincolorBiseven(including0)?

3.(8p)Thereare4lightsonadeviceinthedirectionofnorth,south,eastandwest,asshownin
thepicture.Thedevicecanturn90degreesclockwiseorcounterclockwiseeachtime.Nowlets
playagame.Theplayerisblindfoldedanddoesntknowtheinitialstatusofeachlight(on/off).
Buthe/shecanaskthehosttochangethestatusofoneormorelightseachtime(byindicating
thedirections).Thehostwilltelltheplayerhowmanylightsareonafterhemakesthechange,
andthenherotatesthedeviceclockwiseorcounterclockwiserandomlyby90degrees(without
tellingtheplayer).Iftheplayermanagestoturnonallfourlightshe/shewinsthegame.Ifyou
aretoplaythisgamedoyouhaveanystrategytowininfinitesteps?Ifnot,showyourstrategy
thathasthehighestprobabilitytowin.

4.(8p)Thereisaweirdcalculatorthatcanonlygivetheresultofxy+x+y+1forany2real
numbersxandy.Canyouusethiscalculatortocalculatex^7y+xy+x+1foranygivenxandy?

5.(10p)TwovillagesA,Bareconnectedbytheroadsshowninthegraph.
Ahurricanebreakssomeroad(s).Iftheprobabilityofeachroadbrokenis(thereare8roads
inthegraphandtheyareallindependentwitheachother)findtheprobabilitythatAandBare
stillconnected.

6.(10p)10investorsbought3stockseachandanytwoofthemboughtatleastonestockin
common.Forthestockownedbymostpeople,whatistheminimumnumberofpeoplewho
haveboughtit?

7.(12p)Letsplayagameasfollows.Assumethattheplayerstartsfromx=0onthenumberline
andcanmovetowards+infeachtimeatadistanceofthenumberrolledoutfromasixface
evendicewith1,2,3,4,5,6onthefaces.Therearetwoboxesatx=10000andx=10001
respectively.
7.1)(6p)Whatistheprobabilitythattheplayerwillreachatleastoneofthe2boxes?
7.2)(6p)Ifthetwoboxesareatx=10000andx=10002respectivelywhatistheprobabilitythat
theplayerwillreachatleastoneofthem?

8.(12p)Thesetof2nnumbers{1,2,3,...,2n}aresplitrandomlyintotwosubsetsofnelements.
Thenwesorteachsubset.DenotethetwoorderedsubsetsbyA={a1,a2,...,an}(a1<a2<...<an)and
B={b1,b2,...,bn}(b1>b2>...>bn).WhatistheexpectationE(S)ofS,whereS=sum(|aibi|,1<=i<=
n)?

9.(12p)Thereisasquaregridofsizenxnwithabadsignalgeneratedonsomenode(n2
nodesintotal).Wecandetectthebadsignalgeneratedbutcannotknowexactlywhere.Letstry
tocatchthisbadsignalbyscanningnodesonthegrid.Ifithappenstobeonsomenodebeing
scannedwecatchit.Nowconsiderthefollowingscenarios.
9.1)(6p)Ateachsecondwescanallnodesonastraightlineonthegrid(vertical,horizontalor
anylineparalleltothediagonal)atthesametime.Butthebadsignalwillmovetosomeof4
adjacentnodesrandomlyeverysecondtoo.Isthereanystrategytocatchthebadsignalinfinite
time?Describeyourstrategyorshowthatsuchastrategydoesntexist.
9.2)(6p)Nowassumethatthegridisofinfinitesizeandthateverysecondweonlyscanone
node.Thebadsignalwillmoveverticallyorhorizontallytoanothernodeataconstantdistance
(ifthedistanceis1themovingpatternisthesameasinquestion9.1)everysecond.Isthere
anystrategytocatchthebadsignalinfinitetime?Describeyourstrategyorshowthatsucha
strategydoesntexist.